


Call It Puppy Love

by shipsdrifting



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Puppies, Puppy!fic, Valentine's Day, literal fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-13
Updated: 2015-03-13
Packaged: 2018-03-17 11:35:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3527894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shipsdrifting/pseuds/shipsdrifting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>She has huge, green eyes, curly brown hair, and a little pink tongue that hangs out the side of her mouth as she looks up adoringly from beside Louis' feet. </em>
</p><p><em>“Oh, alright - but only because you're so cute,” he relents and scoops the puppy into his arms. Louis is not the type to get all soppy over animals, okay - he's </em>not<em> - </em><em>but the little poodle mix might be an exception to the rule.</em><br/> </p><p>Or, Louis gets Harry a surprise puppy for Valentine’s Day. Things don't go exactly as planned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Call It Puppy Love

She has huge, green eyes, curly brown hair, and a little pink tongue that hangs out the side of her mouth as she looks up adoringly from beside Louis' feet.

“Oh, alright – but only because you're so cute,” he relents and scoops the puppy into his arms. Louis is not the type to get all soppy over animals, okay – he's _not_ – but the little poodle mix might be an exception to the rule.

He only picked her up from the shelter yesterday. Last week, when he'd casually shown Harry the shelter’s website, both of them were immediately drawn to the new poodle puppies. But the one that they’d thought they liked the most – the one with the white patch under her chin that the site had described as “spunky” – had been adopted just hours before Louis arrived, they had said. Louis had still had plenty to choose from with the six remaining pups in the litter, though. What finally convinced him was how, when the litter was released out into the yard to meet him, this little one had stumbled over a branch, a rock, and then seemingly _nothing_ in her waggly enthusiasm to get to him, pushing and wriggling through all the other puppies to promptly hop up onto his lap.

Maybe he should just name her Harry already. Or Harriet. He grins. But, he reminds himself, she's not his to name; she's a Valentines Day surprise for his boyfriend, her potential namesake: Harry himself.

Ever since they finally moved in together six months ago, they’ve been talking about getting a dog. They'd done some casual research and even a bit of puppy-proofing, but despite Harry’s whining, they’d never gone farther than that – until now.

Harry is going to be _ecstatic_.

And it’s the perfect time to get a puppy: their apartment is pet-friendly, and both of them will be spending much of their time at home this semester working on their dissertations. Plus, their closest friends, Liam and Zayn, only live a few doors away and have already promised to babysit if they ever need help.

The puppy starts to wriggle against Louis’ chest, bringing him back to the present. He coos and holds her up to his face, and she licks his nose, momentarily distracted, before beginning to squirm again.

“What do you want, hmm? Up, down? You just can't decide, can you?”

She blinks and cocks her head to one side, still wearing the same panting grin.

He looks at the clock. “It’s been a few hours. Maybe it's time to keep housetraining you, then. What do you think?” He sets her down on the floor, and she runs in a circle around his feet before stopping to look expectantly up at him again, tail still wagging. “Come on, then, let's go outside.” He grabs her pink leash from its place by the door and kneels down to hook it onto her collar. The collar is pink, too, with little red hearts; it’s the one Harry had liked the time they went to the pet store to get Louis' sister a goldfish and ended up in the dog aisle fantasizing about their imaginary future dog.

It's really a little disgusting that Harry has done this to him, he thinks fondly as they step out the door. That’s what Liam would say, at least. A few years ago, the sharp, cynical Louis never would have even considered getting a dog, much less a tiny, curly thing with a heart-covered pink collar. But things change, and he can imagine – and he _wants_ – everything with Harry now.

Louis walks the puppy outside to their little front lawn, and she immediately starts pulling on her leash to tromp through the snow-dusted grass, grabbing tufts of it between her tiny paws and licking at the frost before hopping to explore a different patch. It’s adorable. He can’t wait to hear Harry squeal over her.

He follows her around for a while, convinces her to finally pee (and praises her a ridiculous amount for it), and then he just sits on the steps and lets her explore the radius around him. She runs around on the grass some more, then sniffs a shrubbery for a suspiciously long time before trotting back to him, conspicuously chewing on something in her mouth.

“Hey, no!” he says, and he pulls out piece of mulch. She seems disgruntled at the sudden theft, but Louis grabs the little purple bone he'd gotten for her, waves it in front of her face until she becomes enticed, and then tosses it out onto the lawn. She chases after it and rolls over on the grass to chew it. “Good girl!” Louis praises. She’s so smart.

Finally, she gets bored and comes back to lie down against Louis’ feet. He runs a hand through her curly hair and pulls out a few pieces of dried grass. He wrinkles his nose.

“I’ll have to clean you up before Tuesday morning,” he muses. “We’ve got to get you looking all pretty.”

He has it all planned out. In the morning, he’ll wake up early and Liam will bring her over. Louis will hide in the kitchen with his phone set to video, and when Harry comes downstairs into the living room looking for him, instead he’ll find a big box with red wrapping paper. When he peers into the box, he'll see this puppy hopping up to greet him, a pink bow on her fluffy head. And he’ll pick her up, squealing with shock and joy as Louis emerges, phone still recording, and it will be perfect.

He grins and scratches behind her ears, and she sighs into the touch.

The sudden buzzing of Louis’ cell phone startles both of them. He quickly surveys the street; luckily, he doesn't see anyone or any cars – and most importantly, any Harry – around. He opens the text message: Harry says he's made it two thirds of the way back from his sister's house; he's just stopped to get petrol and will be back in a half hour.

Louis taps out a reply and looks down at the puppy, who looks back up at him expectantly. “Looks like it's time to take you to your uncles' house.” She raises her head and gives him a watery blink. “Oh, don't look at me like that,” he complains, ruffling her head. “You'll love them, and it's only a few doors away, and only for two nights. And then, you’ll get to come back and meet your other daddy. What d'you think of that?” She licks her mouth. “Me too,” he agrees. “C'mon, then.” He stands and picks her up to go in and gather her stuff.

***

Zayn and Liam's dog, Stella, is a hulking thing, some kind of shepherd mix with a huge snout and piercing eyes, but they've assured and reassured him that she's really just a sweetheart of a gentle giant who would never hurt a little pup like the one cradled in Louis' arms. Nevertheless, Louis eyes her suspiciously as she meekly ambles up to sniff them in the entryway.

“C'mon, Stella, let's meet your new friend.” Liam pats her on the back and turns to Louis. “You can put her down, you know.”

Louis carefully crouches down and holds the puppy out, but still close to him, so they can touch noses. Stella wags her tail gently and cranes her neck out, while Louis' puppy wags harder and tries to wriggle free.

“See? Just need to sniff each other's butts, and they'll be best friends.” Liam says it completely earnestly, and Zayn snorts and shakes his head from where he's leaning against the wall by the stairway.

“But she can't even reach!” And then, she's wriggling out of Louis' arms and splaying her little legs onto the tile floor. She runs in circles around Stella, who for her part appears only mildly curious. “No, come back,” Louis tries, reaching out to grab her, but she's already weaving between Stella’s feet.

“They'll be fine, Louis.” He can hear Liam's eyeroll without even looking up. “Now say goodbye and get home; Harry'll be back soon, yeah?”

Louis scrunches his nose and reaches back out to try to give her a goodbye pat. But she’s just noticed Zayn, and like any other sensible creature, she is awestruck by his presence and would rather trot over to give him her full attention. He leans down to smile and coo at her. It’s a rare response, one that countless people in the world would envy.

Louis stands back up to address the other important matters. “I put all of her stuff in the crate,” he says, motioning to where he'd dumped it by the doorway. “There’s her food and her toys and a couple of blankets. She's supposed to sleep inside there at night, so leave one of the blankets inside, and make sure she has her favorite bone – the purple one – too. And feed her on the schedule I told you, and make sure you supervise her all the time, and she likes to grab stuff to chew so make sure that she doesn't get anything she can choke on, and – ”

“We know,” Liam says, “we already puppy-proofed everything, just in case.”

“– and take her outside every three hours during the day. She only had to go out twice last night, but you should probably check on her just to be sure, but don't yell at her if she poops in the crate or on the floor or something because she's just a _baby,_ and they said she might even have separation anxiety from missing her mom and her siblings, and –“

“She'll be fine,” Liam repeats. “We know how to take care of a puppy.” He pats Stella, who has sat down beside him to watch the scene with an air of mildly amused disinterest.

“But she's so _little._ ”

“She's a _puppy_ , they're practically all the same size,” Liam counters. When Louis doesn't answer, he smirks. “Look at you, turning into a proper worrywart parent. What would sixth-form Louis say if he saw you now?”

Louis narrows his eyes and turns to Zayn, who's still entertaining the puppy, dangling his necklace in front of her face as she tries to grab it in her mouth. Louis sighs. “I'll come back for a bit tomorrow morning, if I can. Promise you'll call me if you need anything, okay?”

“Okay,” they say in unison.

***

Harry is acting weird.

Louis can't put his finger on precisely how or why _,_ but Harry has been acting weird almost since he arrived home yesterday evening.

He'd seemed fidgety from the beginning, when Louis had asked about his sister.

“Good – fine!” Harry had said brightly. “Great. She bought a new dress. – I mean, we did. I mean, she did, when I was with her. When we went shopping. Together.” Harry shook his head. “But, yeah. She's good. It was good. Mostly we just sat around, watched telly, you know.”

It was a little strange, but then, Harry is a little strange. When Louis had laughed and said as much, Harry just gave a shrug and a lopsided grin before turning to wrap his arms around Louis. “I missed you.”

After that, things had seemed normal for a while. They started on some dinner, Louis cooking the pasta while Harry started making a sauce, and talked idly about the coming week and their predictions for the semifinals of _The Voice._

But then, just after dinner, Harry started getting a stream of text messages, his brow furrowing as he tapped out increasingly long responses, nervously checked his phone every few minutes.

“It's nothing,” he'd said when Louis had asked, tapping out another message before sliding the phone into his pocket and letting out another easy grin.

And now, Louis has gotten up extra early with the intention of heading over to Liam and Zayn's before Harry wakes up. Only, Harry isn’t in bed. When Louis creeps downstairs, Harry is leaning over the kitchen counter holding his cell phone to his ear, speaking in a hushed voice with a distraught look on his face.

Harry must notice him out of the corner of his eye, because his face brightens, and he says into the phone, barely loud enough for Louis to hear. “Look, I told you it’s okay, but I've got to go. I'll text you later.”

Harry drops the phone in the pocket of his shorts and lopes toward him for a hug. “You're up early,” he says.

“So're you,” Louis answers, poking him in the stomach. When Harry doesn't respond, just maintaining that same goofy but somehow nervous grin, Louis shrugs. “I had some errands to run; I thought maybe I could get out before you got up.”

“Oh, really?” he says, posture perking up. “An errand? Well, uh, good. But you'll have to wait a little while, because I'm about to make you breakfast. What d'you want? Eggs, bacon, sausage – a fry-up? Or pancakes, waffles? All of them?” He says it all a little manically.

“Harry?” Louis clears his throat. “Are you okay? Are _we_ okay?” He looks up at Harry’s eyes, speckled green and olive in the morning and wrought with confusion. “You’ve just been acting a little weird,” he continues.

“What do you – “ Harry’s eyes widen. “Louis, yes, of course! We’re more than okay,” he says, softly and emphatically. “Always. Sorry, I was just talking to Niall, is all. He’s having a problem with a gig, and he was a bit worried. It’s nothing, really.”

“Okay, I – okay.” Louis nods. He’s being silly; this must all be in his imagination after all. It’s probably just his own nervousness breaking through.

“Now what do you want me to make you for breakfast?” Harry says, squeezing Louis’ shoulder lightly.

“You don't have to do that,” Louis says. “Anything's fine with me, 's long as there's tea.” He can see Harry starting to protest. “Okay, how about just eggs and bacon,” he relents. “Something easy?” He wants to get to his puppy sooner rather than later this morning, so he can check up on her later tonight, too. “Can I help with anything?”

“No, no,” Harry waves him off.

So Louis gets dressed, texts Liam that he'll be a little while, and waits.

He starts thinking about the puppy again. Liam texted him a picture yesterday and another this morning, with an attached “ _shes fine :)_ ,” but still. Louis misses her.

He wonders what she’s doing, if she’s sleeping, or chewing her toys, or out playing in the back porch. Liam always does his ridiculous morning exercise routine on the porch. Louis has seen him. Actually, Louis might even be able to see her if he sneaks a look out the window.

The bedroom window is occluded by a tree, and he can’t see much from the one in the hallway, but downstairs might be better anyway. He sneaks to the downstairs toilet that they never use, almost tripping over a towel that must have fallen on the floor, and opens the side door to peer out. He can just see the side of Liam and Zayn’s porch, but there’s clearly no one there right now.  He sighs and steps back inside, the door swinging shut behind him.

He peeks into the kitchen to offer Harry help or company again. It smells good, like bacon and something sweet, too, and he’s about to tell Harry as much. But instead, he finds Harry is on his phone again, holding it pressed between his ear and his shoulder as he keeps watch over two different pans on the stove.

Louis isn’t eavesdropping or anything. And, he can't hear much over the sizzle of the bacon and whatever else he has cooking, but Harry looks worried and exasperated, rubbing his neck with one hand and holding the spatula with the other. And then he lifts the pan of bacon for a moment, the noise subsides, and Louis hears it:

“...too much… it's a _dog..._ ”

A shock of cold dread runs through Louis' body.

How does he know? Did he hear her barking or something, before Louis got up? Louis _told_ them to bring her inside if she started barking. Or did he somehow find out another way? Has he suspected all along?

And more importantly: he's so _distressed._ This must be why he had been acting so strange since he got home. He must hate her.

Oh, god. He knows about the puppy, and he hates her. Louis knew he shouldn't have gotten a puppy without him. How could he be so stupid? This has to be the worst present ever. What can he do? He'll have to take her back to the shelter. Oh, god, he doesn't know if he can bring himself to do it, he's grown so attached to her already. But it’s his own fault; he can't just go bringing a dog into the house without consulting his partner first. Why did he ever think this was a good idea?

Harry stands listening to the other end of the line for a moment more. Nothing else is audible to Louis, though, and finally Harry sighs and drops the phone back into his pocket. Louis scampers back toward the stairs out of view just as Harry calls that breakfast is ready.

Harry made pancakes anyway, in addition to a whole plate of scrambled eggs and what looks like an entire rash of bacon.

Breakfast is quieter than usual, Louis' mind whirring a mile a minute as he hides behind his tea, trying to figure out how he can fixthis. All he knows is that he has to go back to Zayn and Liam’s. He has to see her.

“I'm heading out now,” he says after they finish washing the dishes. He tries to keep his voice even as he hands Harry the last fork. Harry glances at the clock before nodding.

“Good, good. How – uh, how long do you think you'll be?”

“Maybe an hour – maybe a little more,” he shrugs. It depends how easily he can figure out what to do with her.

Harry visibly relaxes, shoulders slumping forward. “Oh – okay. I'll just be working, I think.” He leans in for a peck on the lips – at least he doesn't hate him _that_ much, Louis thinks - and then Louis gathers his keys and leaves.

He's careful to park around the corner, where Harry won't be able to see him, and sneak around the back of Liam and Zayn's house. Not that it matters, he reminds himself, since Harry obviously already knows.

Louis is practically in hysterics by the time he gets there. He slumps into Liam's arms as soon as he opens the door.

“Louis, what’s wrong?”  

“I have to take her back,” he mumbles. “Harry doesn't want her.”

“What?” Liam says. “He knows – he said that?” Louis nods morosely just as the puppy runs up to him, and he automatically picks her up to cuddle against his chest.

“Glad I didn't give you a name, at least,” he says into the fur on her back.  

Zayn's voice startles him; he must have been behind Liam this whole time. “Louis, that doesn't make any sense. How do you know?”

“He said –”  Louis takes a breath. “I heard him talking to someone on the phone this morning, and he was really upset, and he said he didn't want a dog. He said that having a dog would be too much work.”

“That doesn't make any sense,” Zayn presses. “Harry's wanted a dog for ages, ever since we met him.”

“Well, maybe he changed his mind,” Louis shoots back.  

Zayn raises an eyebrow in disbelief. “And how would he even know, anyway?”

Louis snaps. “I don’t know! It doesn't matter, I still have to figure out what to _do_ with her.”

“Louis,” Zayn repeats, still calm. “What _exactly_ did you hear him say?”

Louis sighs. “I just heard him say, 'a dog is too much.' I think.”

“Too much what? Too much money? How do you even know he was talking about this one? Could be talking about someone else, or a movie he watched.”

Zayn has a point, he supposes, although it’s not likely.

Louis sighs and sits cross-legged on the floor, and the puppy scampers to plop in his lap.

“Zayn's right. You can't just decide that's what he meant,” Liam says.

Louis walks his fingers around the puppy's snout as she playfully mouths him and bats at him with her paws. How could Harry not want _this?_

“Why don't we wait until you figure everything out before jumping to rash conclusions?” Liam continues.

“And,” Zayn adds, “if he really doesn't want her, you know we'll take her.”

“ _Zayn!_ ”

“Oh, c'mon, Liam. You can’t let this little face go,” Zayn says, his voice turning to baby talk at the end as he watches the puppy bat at Louis’ shoelaces. Liam's eyes soften. “See?” Zayn smirks.

“Thanks,” Louis looks up as Zayn, Liam, and even Stella come to join, sitting on the floor beside him. “But you don’t have to. I can always figure something else out.”

He can't possibly get rid of her, though. Maybe – maybe even if Harry doesn't want her now, maybe he'd change his mind. He hasn't even met her yet, after all.

He leaves with slightly raised spirits and a newfound resolve to argue his case if Harry brings it up again. And at least he’d like to figure out exactly what Harry was talking about.

But when Louis opens their front door, Harry isn't alone. He's standing beside the doorway talking to someone – and, oh. It’s Niall _._

In the split second after Louis opens the door but before they register his entrance, Louis spots a big duffel bag lying beside them. He also catches a whisp of the conversation: Niall apologizing for something, asking if Harry's sure it's okay, and Harry vigorously nodding his head.

They both startle when Louis opens the door, and Harry spins around. “Louis, didn't know you'd be home yet!”

A look passes between them. “Niall was just stopping by. He just got called for a gig in London tonight, so I said he should come by, you know, last minute to chat and use the loo.”

Louis starts to say hello to Niall, but then Harry is crowding in to kiss him, hard, against the door. Louis can’t help closing his eyes, momentarily stunned by the sweet slide of his lips. A cloudy part of his brain knows that Niall is probably going to start making gagging noises, as he always does, even though everyone knows he secretly loves it.

But, Louis finds when he cracks open an eye, Niall had actually momentarily disappeared and is just reemerging from the hallway. “Okay, first of all, _gross_ ,” he says with a grin. “But hey, Louis!” He comes to give him a hearty hug.  “Haven't seen you in a while!”

“Yeah – how've you been? Harry says you're passing through for a gig tonight, so pretty good?” Niall beams.

They converse for a bit longer, though Harry and Niall keep passing that strange look between them. But then, Niall is one of Harry's oldest friends, and sometimes they just communicate like that.

“You sure you don’t wanna stay? We can make tea.” Louis asks. “You just got here!”

Niall shakes his head. “Nah, gotta keep going,” he grins.

When they finally see Niall off, Harry turns to Louis with a grey face. His eyes suddenly look droopy and tired, and he raises a hand to his stomach.   

“You okay?” Louis asks, instant concern crowding out any other emotion.

“Um. I'm not feeling well, is all,” Harry groans. He winces and clutches his stomach.

“What's wrong? Can I do anything?”

“No, you don't have to – especially since you just got back.”

“Harry, I can go back out. The store's only a few minutes away.”

“Um. Do you think you could go and get me some, like, crackers?” he asks sheepishly. “And some Paracetamol, maybe? I couldn’t find any; I think we're out.”

Huh. Louis was sure that they’d bought a new pack a few weeks ago, but he must have been wrong. “Of course, babe. You just sit and relax, and I'll be back in a few, okay?”

Louis grabs his coat and bounds back out the door. He still gets an odd feeling that something is _off_ about this, but if Harry is sick, then Louis will do anything he can to fix it. Everything else can come later.  

Louis is unlocking the car when he sees a dash of motion in the corner of his eye. And oh, shit. It's his _puppy_. She’s just running through the grass, completely unattended. She pulls her snout out from the ground when he starts to approach, white snow dusting her little face. She's clearly seen him, and she’s watching with an expression that makes him think she might bolt away at any instant, and especially if he tries to grab her.

He takes a calming breath. “C'mere,” he says softly, crouching down to beckon at her. She eyes him with suspicion for a tense moment, but then, thank _god_ , she just trots right up to him and starts sniffing his shoes. He reaches to pick her up, and she tries to escape, twisting backwards to dart away, but it’s too late. He holds on tight, holding her to his chest, and finally she settles against him, wriggling upwards only to sniff his face.

Louis is furious. For one thing, Harry could have seen her, and that would have totally ruined the surprise – well, if it still is a surprise.

But it could have been much worse. She could have been gone forever.

He knocks on Liam and Zayn’s door with one hand, the other balled into an angry fist even as it cradles the puppy. Zayn opens the door.

“For fuck’s sake, you had one job!” Louis exclaims, thrusting the puppy into Zayn's arms.

“Shit, I'm so sorry,” Zayn says, eyes widening. “Liam was watching her out in the back. Guess she must've slipped out of her collar or something? I’m so sorry.”

“Just keep her inside, okay? I don't have time for this. Harry's sick and I have to go get him some stuff.”

Louis’ anger simmers inside him for the whole trip. He ignores the dozen texts that Liam sends him in the next fifteen minutes; he doesn't have the patience to deal with groveling right now, and anyway he wants to get home to deliver these things to Harry as soon as possible.

But when he arrives home with the bag, Harry doesn't look very ill. Instead he just looks frantic, eyes wide with fear and panic as he turns toward Louis at the door.  

“Here, love,” Louis says, emptying the bag on the table. “How are you feeling -”

“Not right now,” Harry says, voice shrill. He doesn’t look ill anymore.

“Harry,” Louis tries to calm his annoyance. “I just went out in the snow to get this for you because it couldn't wait, and now –”

“I'm sorry!” Harry's voice breaks, and a fat tear slides down his face.

“Harry – baby, what's wrong?” Louis melts instantly into concern. “I'm sorry. What's happened?”

More tears start running down his face now, his nose running too as he starts to really cry.

“Oh, Harry,” Louis reaches to grab the tissues from the counter. “Harry, what's wrong?”

“I – I lost your – your Valentine’s Day present,” he says, stuttering, between wrenching sobs.

“Harry, sweetheart, that's okay.” Louis reaches to stroke his arm. “I don't need anything, I told you that. All I want is you, you know?” Harry just bursts into another bout of sobs. Louis tries to lay a hand on his shoulder to pull him into a hug, but he pushes free, eyes flashing with anger.

“No! I lost it, and I looked everywhere, and now –” His expression crumbles. “I only left her alone for a minute, I swear,” he whispers, pleading. “And then – and then the door was open, and she was _gone._ ”

_What?_

“She?”

“Yes, it – it was a puppy, okay?” he bawls. “It was a puppy, the – the one you liked, from the shelter, from the website, and I went and lost her. And – and I don't even know if you _want_ her, but now she's probably going to freeze to death first anyway.” He breaks down sobbing again, covering his face with his hands.

And suddenly everything clicks into place in Louis' mind.

Harry got him a puppy.

Harry got him a puppy, the puppy from the shelter website that they had seen last week. The puppy that was gone, already adopted, by the time Louis got there on Saturday. The puppy who looked almost just like the one that Louis brought home, except for the patch of snowy white underneath her chin...

“Harry – sweetheart?” Louis starts carefully. “I think... I think, the thing is, your present might have already found me.”

“What?”

“Just –”

“Where is she?” His eyes are wide and watery, voice squeaky.

“Just a few minutes ago, when I left, and I – um. C'mon, let me just show you.” He leads Harry outside, toward Liam and Zayn's place, Harry following dumbly.

“I thought they were out of town this weekend, ” Harry sniffs, barely audible.

“No, um. They’re not.” Louis had told Harry that lie specifically to keep him far away from Zayn and Liam’s place this weekend.

Harry doesn’t respond, just follows Louis to the door, shoulders still slumped in defeat. Louis braces himself to knock, vaguely wondering what slew of confused and angry text messages must be waiting on his phone if he's right about this.

The door swings open after one knock.

“What the hell is going on?” Liam's hands are on his hips, and he sounds bewildered and exasperated. “Zayn comes into the room, yelling at _me_ over nothing, holding – what, you didn't tell me, did you get some kind of cloning machine, too, or something?”

Liam must notice Harry then, standing behind Louis with red-rimmed eyes and confusion. “Hi, Harry,” he says before resuming glaring at Louis.  

Louis looks back at him, preparing himself to attempt to explain. But then the clatter of clawed paws on the tile starts begins to sound, growing louder and louder until three – _three_ –dogs come racing through the foyer, Zayn tailing behind.

Louis looks at Liam, and then at Harry, whose mouth is gaping open. Louis shrugs helplessly. “So I think what happened,” he says, slowly, “is that maybe Harry and I got each other the same Valentine’s Day present.”

Harry remains frozen in shock, like he doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Both puppies come bounding toward them, tails wagging so hard that their whole bodies wiggle side to side. One of them - the one Louis brought home - starts hopping up against Harry’s legs. Louis can clearly tell the difference now; the puppy that he brought home is darker and a little bigger, and she doesn't have that white patch under her chin or on her belly. The other puppy sniffs Louis' shoes for a second before pawing at her sister and darting away in an invitation to play. They start play-wrestling in a pile of brown fur on the floor.

Harry still looks completely bewildered, his wide eyes flitting in disbelieving joy between the puppies and Louis’ face. “You got –?”

“The puppy.” Louis confirms. “Well, another puppy. One of the ones we were looking at the other day. I thought, for Valentine’s Day…”

“And so did I.”

They look at each other a moment before Harry bursts out laughing, laughing until he's crying happy tears and pulling Louis into an embrace.

He pulls back for a moment, still gripping Louis’ hands. “We’ll keep both of them, right? They’re so little, and this way they can both have a friend when we’re gone.”

“Harry,“ Louis begins faux-seriously, and Harry’s eyes grow wide with worry. “Of _course_ we will,” Louis giggles, and Harry pulls him into another tight, happy hug.

“Niall was watching her for the night,” Harry explains sheepishly when they finally pull apart, swiping at his eyes. “He was going to bring her over tomorrow on the way to London, but then they called and asked if he could come a day early, and – and he told me he'd say no, but I said to just bring her over today.”

“So that's why you were acting so weird. Wait, how were you even planning to hide her?”

“I don’t know!” Harry lets out a watery giggle. “That’s what I was worried about. Niall put her in the downstairs loo, and I thought, like, maybe I could set up the surprise for when you got back, as an early present, you know? But then I got in there and the door was open and she was _gone.”_ He frowns. “I don’t know what happened; I thought I checked everything when I got up.”

“Hey,” Louis touches his arm. “I think maybe I didn’t close it right this morning, after – never mind. I’m just glad it all worked out. I was worried about you today.”

“He thought that you were acting weird because you didn't want the puppy _he_ got _you_ ,” Liam supplies, breaking their silence from the other side of the room, where he and Zayn have been watching the scene in silent amusement.

“But how would I even know?” Harry asks, furrowing his brow.

“I dunno,” Louis shrugs, looking up at him guiltily.

Harry puts a reassuring hand on Louis’ arm. “And Louis, of course I would – I _do –_ love her! If anything, I thought you might not be keen on me getting _you_ a puppy. Like, I had the idea, but I wasn’t sure. But then you seemed so happy when we were on the website the other day.”

“When we were looking at this one,” Louis grins, turning to the puppy pawing at his shoes. He carefully picks her up under her arms and cradles her like a baby against his chest. She licks his chin with exuberance, and he laughs. “I was going to get her for you, too, you know. But when I got there she was gone already. I guess you beat me to it.” The puppy starts to squirm in earnest, nearly jumping from Louis’ arms before he can put her back on the floor. She scampers to Liam and Zayn and starts running back and forth between them as they try in vain to pat her.

“Yeah, well I think she’s definitely a bigger handful!” Harry laughs. He turns and scoops up the other puppy, who has been waiting patiently beside him. “This one seems a bit more... relaxed.” She stays still in his arms, and he kisses her head. He leaves his face buried in her fur for a moment, flicking his eyes up to smile at Louis. His chocolate curls poke out from behind hers, his green eyes shining above her little face, and it might be the most adorable thing Louis has ever seen in his life.

Then the other puppy returns and begins yapping and running circles around them, her demands for attention breaking the moment and awakening her sister from her blissful state in Harry’s arms. They both laugh, and Harry places his puppy back down on the floor.

“So, did you purposely get each other in dog form?” Zayn asks, as the littler one wiggles her butt and pounces on her sister, holds her down and starts licking the side of her face. “Honestly, my choice would be the first one. The other one's too hyperactive.”

“How dare you,” Harry laughs. “She’ll calm down eventually. Besides,” he looks pointedly at Louis, who has stooped down to scratch her behind the ears during her momentary break from terrorizing her sister. “I think she already has Louis wrapped around her little... paw, I guess.”

“I think both of them do. I’ve never seen him like this, so _paternal_ ,” Liam teases. “Next thing he’s gonna want babies.”

Louis starts to protest, but then his eyes catch Harry’s face; he’s smiling so wide, dimples and all, beaming at him with a look of pure adoration, and Louis isn’t even embarrassed anymore. He shrugs and smiles back.

Zayn shakes his head with a grin. “Looks like you're gonna have your hands full.”

“Yeah,” Louis agrees. “ _Two_ puppies.”

But then he looks back at Harry, one pup gnawing on either of his hands as he watches in blissful fascination, and he knows it's worth it.

***

The next morning, when Louis comes downstairs to the living room, there’s no puppy to hide inside a box. Instead, there’s Harry sprawled on the sofa with both puppies sleeping on top of him. The bigger one, Molly, lies curled on his chest, and the other, Lucy, lies flopped beside her with her head resting on Molly’s back. Harry watches them through half-closed eyes, lightly rubbing his thumbs behind their ears as he hums a soft song.   

It takes Louis a moment to make out what he’s humming. Then he hears it:

_“Isn’t she lovely, isn’t she wonderful…”_

Harry is _singing_ to their puppies. He’s singing the first verse of “Isn’t She Lovely,” voice soft and sleepy, swaying his head and smiling down at them as he absently pets them in their sleep. Louis wonders if it’s possible for a heart to actually burst.

He holds his breath, standing silent in the doorway as he watches the scene, Harry’s voice eventually melting into a hum and then back into his slow breathing.

Only then does Louis make his presence known. “Happy Valentine’s Day,” he says, emerging from the doorway, and all three of them raise their heads. Harry’s eyes flick upwards and he breaks into a sleepy smile. He scoots sideways on the sofa, careful to not topple the puppies, and Louis slides in beside him. Lucy opens her eyes and snuffles at him for a moment before crawling over her sister to plop down between them. The movement awakens Molly, and she toddles close behind until she’s snuggled in the crevice where their bodies meet, too.

Louis nuzzles Harry’s shoulder. “Shouldn't we teach them to stay off the sofa?” he murmurs against his neck.

“Probably,” Harry agrees softly, but neither of them moves. Instead, they just smile against each other and link their hands on top of the fluffy puppies between them.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it! Much thanks to my betas, M and S :D  
> [ tumblr :) ](http://shipsdrift.tumblr.com)


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